The National Basketball Association

Pre-Exercise Question: Name a recording that you’ve recently heard, or a movie or television show you’ve recently watched, or a video game you have played. Do you know which company is responsible for it? Is there a parent company that owns this company? This project will help you get to know the small number of media corporations that control so much of U.S. and global culture and will help you understand what this influence may mean for democracy. You will present your findings in a 2-4 page paper (12 pt font, double spaced, APA style citation, add at least 3 references).
Your research could point to one of the digital media giants (Google, Amazon, Facebook, Netflix) or traditions media conglomerates (AT&T, Disney, Comcast, Bertelsmann) Read Specialization, Global Markets and Convergence p. 401, and Social Issues in Media Economics p. 409. You can begin your research with
Frontline’s “Media Giants” site (www(dot)pbs(dot)org/wgbh/pages/frontline
/shows/cool/giants), remember the data could be old. So, you should also check, latest news on the company, the company’s own corporate Web sites, as well as LexisNexis, the New York Times Index and the like for updates and for other information about your conglomerate that you can bring to the class discussion. When researching, you should consider the following possible subsidiary
categories—music record labels, music manufacturing, motion-picture
studios/production companies, movie theaters, television-cable and satellite channels, broadcasting, cable franchises, television production/distribution, radio, books, magazines, multimedia, video games, OTT platforms, manufacturing, online retail, sports, and others. You may also want to situate the conglomerate’s history in media history. For example, What is CBS’s role in TV history? What is MTV’s role in cable history (and Nickelodeon’s, etc.)?
Description. How did a particular conglomerate get so big and when? Describe the company’s headquarters location, numerous office locations, number of employees, and a general idea of this company’s global expansiveness. Who is the CEO? List all of the subsidiaries (as many as can be identified) of the conglomerate. Describe the company’s corporate values. What terms does the company’s corporate Web site use to describe itself? Note the company’s latest revenue data and current standing among competitors. Go through a broad range of news reports about the company (independent media as well as mainstream). What can you learn about the company from these reports?
Analysis. How has the company adapted to convergence? (Think of Amazon which promotes Kindle on its retail app, bought Washington Post newspaper) To what extent does the conglomerate dominate a particular medium? Why is this company doing so well or not so well? What is the impact of Covid 19 pandemic on the company? How has the pandemic effected their profits? Have their profits gone down? Have they downsized? What was the pattern before the pandemic?
Interpretation. What do these patterns mean? First discuss them from an investor’s perspective. Then discuss them from a citizen’s perspective. Are these interests the same or different?
Evaluation. Is this company good for democracy? Does it (or any of its subsidiaries) enable multiple points of view? Is this company good for the world? Why or why not? Do you think people should understand where media content comes from, and if so, why? To what extent is there a diverse media landscape?
Engagement. Visit the Free Press Web site (www(dot)freepress(dot)net) to learn about downsides of media conglomerations and regulatory challenges. If you were made the CEO of this company what direction will you take it in? What new companies would you like to take over? Why? Or would you downsize the company? What would you do to promote diverse voices?